VTT Character Creation Thread

[jm935]

Please use this thread to discuss party roles and character builds. I will update this opening post as needed.

Current Party Plans

Player	Role
David T.	Melee Barbarian
John P.	Melee Cleric
Alex M.	Reach Fighter
Erich G.	Sorcerer
Karl G.	Archer Paladin

Basic Character Options

Basic Character Options Paizo Publishing makes the complete Pathfinder Core Rules available for free in the Pathfinder Reference Document. In addition, see Pathfinderwiki.com for information on Golarion (the world of the Pathfinder campaign setting). (1) Core Rulebook (CRB) only (2) 20-point buy (3) Two Traits from the Advanced Player's Guide (APG); there may be some restriction on these but I don't have time at the moment to figure it out; do notice that you cannot select more than one trait from any given category (e.g., only one Combat trait, only one Race trait) (4) 125 starting gold and you begin play with "Standard Adventuring Gear" (5) The Rogue class will be tweaked; here's the current plan (not finalized):   Rogue (i) Trap Spotter: at 1st level, a Rogue gains the Trap Spotter Rogue Talent as part of her Trapfinding ability (ii) Toughness: at 3rd level, a Rogue gains Toughness as a bonus feat (iii) Bonus Feat: at 5th level, a Rogue gains either Iron Will or Great Fortitude as a bonus feat (6) All characters have the Fast Learner ability. Whenever you gain a level in your favored class, you gain 1 hit point and 1 skill point as a favored class bonus. Alternatively, you may choose a racial favored class bonus (in which case you gain neither a hit point nor a skill point as a bonus for that level). (7) Magic item crafting will be disallowed; Wizards gain Spell Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level instead of Scribe Scroll (8) No evil characters

Notes (1) Non-CRB material that is allowed is listed below (2) Here is a point-buy calculator to save you the effort of doing it by hand or coding up the spreadsheet for yourself. Or, if you prefer, here are two excellent stat arrays you can get with 20-point-buy, before racial modifiers: 16/14/14/12/12/7 and 17/14/14/14/7/7 (3) Leadership-related traits are disallowed. Item-crafting related traits are disallowed. The "Rich Parents" trait (which sucks anyway) is disallowed. The following trait is available as a Campaign trait: Observant: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Perception checks, and Perception is always considered a class skill for you (4) You begin play with Standard Adventuring Gear (SAG). You are considered to posses whatever mundane (non-alchemical, non-magical) items that you need. SAG does not cover items priced at 50 gp or more. NB ammunition will be tracked per-combat, so no infinite arrows (a quiver holds 20 arrows). [...] (7) Crafting magic items can quickly screw up the Wealth-By-Level expectations built into the encounter system. Since I'm a new GM I'd rather avoid that can of worms. Maybe after a while I'll get more comfortable and open up at least low-level item crafting, but let's keep it simple for now. (8) It's just easier that way. ** The NPC Codex includes builds for all of the Iconic NPCs. These provide decent builds for each of the core classes. You are welcome to use these builds once you add two Traits and repurchase equipment following the 125 gp + SAG guideline. (If you don't want to agonize over Trait choices, solid options for most builds will be: Reactionary [+2 Initiative] and Observant [per #3 above]). ** You may find some of the class guides listed in The Comprehensive Guide to the Guides helpful when building your character, especially those that are Core only. In particular, I recommend Rogue Eidolon's guides for the Fighter, Rogue, and Cleric, and Treantmonk's guide for the Wizard.

Fiddly Character Options

 

Advanced Character Options (i) Alternate Racial Traits from the Advanced Race Guide (ARG) are allowed (ii) All material from the Advanced Player's Guide is allowed except for the new Base Classes (iii) If you would like, you may roll up a random character background following the rules in Ultimate Campaign (UC). (The tables are a bit long: an automated version can be found here.) If you choose to generate a character background in this way, you may acquire one of the suggested Traits as a third Trait in exchange for taking a Drawback as suggested

Some House Rules (Incomplete)

 

House Rules Here is an incomplete list of house rules that we will follow. ** Simplified XP – we will not be tracking XP; instead, I will tell the party to level up about when it should happen ** Simplified Wealth – I haven't figured out the details, but you will not need to keep track of every item you pick up, sell it later, distribute gp, and so on; instead, items acquired during the adventure will magically disappear (so those potions? drink 'em if you got 'em) to be replaced by a lump-sum end-of-adventure gp award, minus a cost-of-living fee to maintain your Standard Adventuring Gear; in addition, you will likely receive a discount to re-purchase specific items found during adventure – again, details not settled ** Ask me about anything else; I'm pretty flexible but reserve the right to ask you to rebuild if, after a while, it feels like your tricky trick is overpowering the game ** The prerequisite for the Arcane Strike feat is satisfied by any Spell-Like Ability (SLA), including racial SLAs and the SLA granted by the Minor Magic Rogue Talent (this and the following are simplified house-ruled versions of a recent FAQ ruling by the Pathfinder Design Team that make these options available to certain characters with the right set of tricky tricks; if these options prove too powerful in-play, I might ask you to rebuild) ** The prerequisites for the Mystic Theurge (MT) Prestige Class (PrC) will be the following: Knowledge (Arcana) 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks; ability to cast 1st-level arcane spells and 1st-level divine spells; ability to cast 2nd-level arcane spells or 2nd-level divine spells.

Changelog 7/18 Added provisional Rogue changes – Added provisional skill point changes – Added ban on magic item crafting – Removed skill points per level proposal, replaced with Fast Learner ability – Added ban on evil characters 7/17 – Fixed Arcane Strike link – Flagged changes to Rogue – Added skill point adjustment for 2+Int classes – Removed skill point adjustment – added spoiler-buttons

[jm935]

Advice for Every Character
The following advice may be flexible in a particular case, but it's usually a very good idea to follow it

General Advice (1) Always have at least a 14 Constitution (2) Always put your Favored Class bonus into hit points (HP) [No longer necessary now that the Fast Learner traits has been added to everyone] (3) Always max the Perception skill (4) Always have at least a +0 Diplomacy (5) Always have a melee attack, even if it's only a dagger (6) Always have a ranged attack, even if it's only a crossbow (7) Purchase one or two flasks of Acid or Alchemist's Fire in case of swarms

 

Notes (1) HP is super important–can't help out if you're unconscious; even the guys in back should have a 14 Con if at all possible (2) See previous (3) Perception is the most-rolled skill in the game; be able to act in the surprise round, avoid traps, find loot. The only case I can think of where you can probably get away with not maxing Perception is if you're a Wizard specializing in the Divination School (4) You may not be the Face, but you will need to roll Diplomacy from time to time, even if it's only to Aid the party roll (5) Even the Wizard needs a dagger–you can't flank if you don't threaten, you don't threaten without a weapon: if your Wizard has bad enough luck to get in melee, you really really really want to be able to give your fighting friends that +2 bonus to hit the baddie who's about to kill you (6) Nothing worse than not being able to contribute (7) You can only hurt swarms with area attacks and splash weapons, and the folks at Paizo love their swarms. Be prepared!

Advice for Party Composition

Advice for Party Composition (1) At least two characters whose primary combat focus is dishing out damage (2) At least two characters who can use a wand of cure light wounds reliably (3) At least one character with really good social skills (Diplomacy and Sense Motive, maybe Bluff) (4) At least one character who can find and disable traps (5) At least one character with really good Knowledges, especially: Arcana, Dungeoneering, Planes, Religion; Local and Nature are useful but less important; personally, I like History for the adventure-background you can learn, but it's not usually mechanically useful (if you're short of skill points) (6) At least one character with detect magic and a really good Spellcraft (7) At least one character who can speak a bunch of languages and has a decent Linguistics (8) At least one character with a decent Survival (9) Have backup weapons, and ones that deal different types of damage (you need blunt damage to kill Skeletons, e.g., and slashing damage to kill Zombies); a silver Morningstar is a good general-purpose backup for melee characters

 

Notes (1) Pathfinder Truth: The Best Defense Is A Good Offense (2) The following classes can use a wand of cure light wounds automatically: bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger; the Difficulty Class (DC) to activate a wand with Use Magic Device (UMD) is 20 (3) Yep (4) Yep (5) Being attacked by a weird and tentacled horror from beyond the stars? Know how to kill it! ... and which attacks will only make it stronger! (6) What's that potion??? (7) The strange runes that tell you how to open the secret door? Linguistics is your friend (8) It sucks to get lost in the wilderness

[jm935]

Tactical Advice
(Informed by TarkXT's combat guides)

Tactical Advice (1) Make sure that every time you act you're doing something to help the party (2) It's okay to Delay or Ready until you can better help the party (3) The Best Defense Is A Good Offense – Offensive actions in Pathfinder are much more useful than Defensive actions (4) Never heal in-combat unless an ally is unconscious or about to be (5) Positioning Is Everything – Be careful where you stand (6) Concentrate fire on one enemy at a time (7) Spend resources at the beginning of combat, not at the end

 

General Principles Dungeons & Dragons evolved out of tabletop miniature war-games. Combat has always been the central challenge of the game. And Pathfinder stays true to that legacy. A typical adventure will feature 4-6 combat encounters, escalating in difficulty to a "boss fight" at the end of the session. Your goal as a team, then, is to overcome each encounter as effectively as possible while preserving your resources–hit points, spells per day, consumable items–for the next challenge. These tactical suggestions are meant to help you do that. Think of combat in three phases: (1) Setup; (2) Heat of Battle; (3) Cleanup. (1) In the Setup phase you want to get your team into a good position and the other team into a bad position and throw out any combat-length buffs or battlefield control spells. (2) In the Heat of Battle phase, throw down damage. Concentrate on putting down one enemy at a time in whatever order makes most tactical sense (suggestions on that below). (3) In the Cleanup phase, the goal is to avoid spending resources you don't have to as you work to wrap up combat quickly.

Notes (1) If combat is a matter of resource management, one of your main concerns as a player is the action economy. Every character gets the same amount of actions every turn: 1 Standard Action, 1 Move Action, 1 Swift or Immediate Action. Actions are a valuable and limited resource, you don't want to waste them. Make every action count.   AOOs Attacks of Opportunity are action-economy gold. It's a free attack! When you normally only get one of those a turn! So you want to maximize your chances to get AOOs while minimizing the baddies' chances ... unless you need to eat up an AOO to protect a more-fragile friend. Since most combatants (i.e. everyone without the Combat Reflexes feat) only get one AOO each round, you can tempt them to use theirs up so, say, your Wizard can run the heck away from the Ogre without getting hit by a parting shot, or your Rogue can walk right around to flank and Sneak Attack without worrying about getting crushed. (2) To make your actions count, sometimes it's best to wait until you can act more effectively. For example, the Rogue might delay her action until she has an opportunity to flank an enemy. This allows her to Sneak Attack, making her attacks much more effective contributions to combat. (3) The Best Defense Is A Good Offense – Every action you spend defending instead of attacking is an action that drags out the combat instead of working to end it quickly. A longer combat sucks up more of your team's resources, weakening you for the next encounter. (4) A specific application of the previous. Healing in-combat, when nobody is unconscious or about to be, is a trap. Don't do it. You can always heal up between combats. (5) Positioning Is Everything. Flank if possible. Threaten enemy spellcasters. Don't block your friends' charge lanes. DO block the enemy's charge lanes to your Wizard. Don't get between the archer and his target. Don't stand in a doorway fighting an enemy–back up so everyone can hit the baddie. (6) Because Action Economy. The quicker you take actions away from the opposing team, the better. That's fewer chances they have to hurt you. So instead of spreading your damage out between multiple targets and letting them all get another round of actions, concentrate on putting them down one at a time to take away their ability to hurt you. Generally (though it depends on the combat and maybe my inclination is incorrect here) I tend to concentrate on enemy spellcasters first, if possible, then the mooks, then the brutes. Spellcasters because they're the ones that can really mess up the efforts of your team. Then mooks, because they're easy to kill. You can drop the other team's number of attacks quickly. Then the brutes, because they'll take a while to knock down. You want to knock out their supports first as an easier way to weaken the opposing team as a whole. (7) See "General Principles", above.

[jm935]

I'd like to give the Rogue a few nice things. Here some ideas I've been considering:

Rogue (1) Raise the Rogue's hit die to d10 instead of a d8 (2) Give the Rogue good Fortitude saves (as written, it's the only 3/4 BAB class with only one good save) (3) Grant the Trap Spotter Rogue Talent as part of Trap Sense (4) Adjust the Rogue's Trapfinding ability as follows: "A rogue adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.

[jm935]

Currently we're scheduled to play Hollow's Last Hope on Saturday August 3rd. Here are some options for afterward. I like the first one, Crypt of the Everflame. It's less of a commitment than #2 or #3, and if we have momentum and want to keep going there are two sequels that together extend to Lvl 7. So the same level range as The Dragon's Demand but split into three modules instead of one super-module. Since we don't yet know just what we want to commit to, it might be a good idea to have those natural breaking-points.

#1 Crypt of the Everflame (Lvl 1-3)

The young heroes of the town of Kassen are ready for their coming-of-age ceremony, an old tradition in which they retrieve a piece of the eternal flame burning in the tomb of the town’s founder. Yet when they arrive there, they find only the corpses of their fellow townsfolk, dead bandits, and mysterious animated skeletons. The novice heroes must brave the traps and perils of the Crypt of the Everflame, discover the source of the corruption that has awakened an ancient evil, and defeat a menace that seeks vengeance against Kassen and its people.

#2 The Dragon's Demand (Lvl 1-7)

Founded by a famous dragonslayer, the small town of Belhaim has become a sleepy rural community just off the beaten path, a settlement where everyone knows everyone and strangers are the talk of the town. But when Belhaim’s peace and quiet is shattered by the sudden collapse of the last standing tower of its founder’s castle, things quickly bloom out of control. Why were there bodies of kobolds amid the rubble? What’s the sinister secret behind the strange sounds of flapping wings in the night? And what’s happened to local wizard Balthus Hunclay, who’s not answering knocks on his door? The collapsed tower had long been an eyesore to the cantankerous old man—could he have had something to do with its destruction? And what of the rumors of strange stirrings in nearby Dragonfen? Has Belhaim’s ancient draconic nemisis returned?

#3 Reign of Winter (Lvl 1-17)

It has been a century since the immortal witch Baba Yaga last visited the world, and the hour draws nigh for her return. But when she fails to appear in the frozen realm of Irrisen to usher in its newest ruler, pockets of winter begin to grow throughout the Inner Sea region. After 1,400 years of perpetual winter, the icy curse of Irrisen is spreading! What links do these strange blizzards and swaths of wintry landscapes have with Irrisen, and is there any truth to the growing rumors that the Witch Queen Elvanna has taken full control of the realm? Can her plans for the Inner Sea be thwarted, or will the Reign of Winter engulf the world?

[Alex M]

Originally Posted by jm935

I'd like to give the Rogue a few nice things.

Yes please!


I'm in for Crypt of the Everflame.

[jm935]

Originally Posted by Alex M

Yes please!

Keep in mind that spell-like abilities (SLAs) can qualify you for Arcane Strike. That's a very nice thing for a Rogue.

It's already a commonly-recommended tactic to pick up an Acid Splash SLA via the Minor Magic Rogue Talent. Rogues get Sneak Attack damage against flat-footed targets; in combat you're flat-footed until your first action (even if there's no surprise round); Acid Splash is a close-range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) touch attack that is not subject to Spell Resistance and deals a damage type not many monsters have resistance against.

So Acid Splash was already an excellent way to get off some Sneak Attack damage in the first round of combat before you close in to melee. And now you can use that to access Arcane Strike, which will give you a big damage boost and help you overcome damage resistance:

Originally Posted by Arcane Strike

As a swift action, you can imbue your weapons with a fraction of your power. For 1 round, your weapons deal +1 damage and are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. For every five caster levels you possess, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

That's a pretty sweet deal!

***

Here's the current plan for the Rogue. I've dropped the Perception boost; that's a big boost and the Rogue has oodles of skill points and Perception as a class skill anyway–the class ain't hurting in that department. I may tweak these some more, but I expect the basic shape to remain the same:

Rogue (1) Hit Die: a Rogue's Hit Die is a d10 (2) Base Saves: in addition to her good Reflex saving throw, a Rogue has good save progression for either her Fortitude save or her Will save, player's choice. (3) Trap Spotter: at 3rd level, a Rogue gains the Trap Spotter Rogue Talent as part of her Trap Sense ability

I'm a bit worried this makes the Rogue too-tempting of a 1-3 level dip, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that will be. (At the very least the Minor Magic > Arcane Strike choice doesn't work for dipping, since Minor Magic uses Rogue class level for caster level.)

[jm935]

Skill Points: All classes with 2+Int skill points per level will receive 3+Int skill points per level instead. (Added to original post.) (Reconsidered and removed.)

[jm935]

If anyone's looking at Arcane Strike, since I've mentioned it, here is a list of every way within our adopted restrictions to qualify for the feat through racial spell-like abilities. In each case caster level = character level, so the feat would scale without a problem:

Elves can qualify for Arcane Strike through the Dreamspeaker alternate racial trait (ART), the Lightbringer ART, or the Envoy ART.

 

Elves Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects. Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items. *** Dreamspeaker: A few elves have the ability to tap into the power of sleep, dreams, and prescient reverie. Elves with this racial trait add +1 to the saving throw DCs of spells of the divination school and sleep effects they cast. In addition, elves with Charisma scores of 15 or higher may use dream once per day as a spell-like ability (caster level is equal to the elf's character level). This racial trait replaces elven immunities. Envoy: Elves often have trouble relating to neighbors of other races, especially those with much shorter lifespans. As a result, some are trained in minor magics that are particularly useful when dealing with non-elves. Elves with this racial trait and an Intelligence score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities once per day: comprehend languages, detect magic, detect poison, and read magic. The caster level for these effects is equal to the elf's level. This racial trait replaces elven magic. Lightbringer: Many elves revere the sun, moon, and stars, but some are literally infused with the radiant power of the heavens. Elves with this racial trait are immune to light-based blindness and dazzle effects, and are treated as one level higher when determining the effects of any light-based spell or effect they cast (including spell-like and supernatural abilities). Elves with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may use light at will as a spell-like ability. This racial trait replaces the elven immunities and elven magic racial traits.

Gnomes can qualify for Arcane Strike through the Gnome Magic racial trait, the Magical Linguist ART, the Pyromaniac ART, and the Fell Magic ART.

 

Gnomes Gnome Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against illusion spells that they cast. Gnomes with Charisma scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome's level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell's level + the gnome's Charisma modifier. Illusion Resistance: Gnomes gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against illusion spells and effects. *** Fell Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against necromancy spells that they cast. Gnomes with Wisdom scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—bleed, chill touch, detect poison, and touch of fatigue. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome's level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell's level + the gnome's Wisdom modifier. This racial trait replaces gnome magic. Magical Linguist: Gnomes study languages in both their mundane and supernatural manifestations. Gnomes with this racial trait add +1 to the DC of spells they cast with the language-dependent descriptor or those that create glyphs, symbols, or other magical writings. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against such spells. Gnomes with Charisma scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—arcane mark, comprehend languages, message, read magic. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome's level. This racial trait replaces gnome magic and illusion resistance. Pyromaniac: Gnomes with this racial trait are treated as one level higher when casting spells with the fire descriptor, using granted powers of the Fire domain, using the bloodline powers of the fire elemental bloodline or the revelations of the oracle's flame mystery, and determining the damage of alchemist bombs that deal fire damage (this ability does not give gnomes early access to level-based powers; it only affects the powers they could use without this ability). Gnomes with Charisma scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, flare, prestidigitation, produce flame. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome's level; the DCs are Charisma-based. This racial trait replaces gnome magic and illusion resistance.

Half-Elves can qualify for Arcane Strike through the Drow Magic ART.

 

Half-Elves Adaptability: Half-elves receive Skill Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level. Multitalented: Half-elves choose two favored classes at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in either one of those classes. *** Drow Magic: A few half-elves with drow ancestry exhibit the innate magic of that race. Half-elves with this trait have drow blood somewhere in their background, and can cast dancing lights, darkness, and faerie fire each once per day, using the half-elf's character level as the caster level for these spell-like abilities. This racial trait replaces the adaptability and multitalented racial traits.

[jm935]

Adjustment to the Rogue adjustments:

Rogue (1) Trap Spotter: at 1st level, a Rogue gains the Trap Spotter Rogue Talent as part of her Trapfinding ability (2) Toughness: at 3rd level, a Rogue gains Toughness as a bonus feat (3) Bonus Feat: at 5th level, a Rogue gains either Iron Will or Great Fortitude as a bonus feat

[Alex M]

Let's move the archer over to Karl; Erich & John, I'll wait to hear from yall what you want to play before settling on my own party role.

[jm935]

Originally Posted by Alex M

Let's move the archer over to Karl; Erich & John, I'll wait to hear from yall what you want to play before settling on my own party role.

You can use your expired DM powers to edit my posts? Tricky.

And appreciated! Thanks for that. I've got a good Paladin build in the works for the Archer character. Karl, it should be easy to play when you're with us and easy to run as an NPC or secondary character when you can't make it. So hooray!

[Pretzel]

I am considering a Cleric following Myketa.

[jm935]

Excellent. What style of Cleric are you considering? Melee? Ranged? Sword-and-board? Two-hander?

Also, I should have posted this earlier, my apologies:

For the gods of Golarion (the world of the Pathfinder campaign setting), see here. The main ones are those listed at the top of the left box, the main deities of the Inner Sea region. But you can use any of the gods you like. If you're interested in a particular domain, you can find gods by their domains in the box on the left.

That site, Pathfinderwiki.com, is an excellent source of information on the campaign world.

[gluckhf]

Awesome! It's a bit difficult on my phone but I will be checking out character creation and stuff when I get home.. built my computer yesterday

I'm thinking of wizard or sorcerer spell casty role